Question for NASCAR fans

How do you feel about Gordon winning his third Daytona?

I was kinda pulling for Rusty.

...but I caught the end of the race and was rooting for Gordon. My father-in-law owns 2 late model cars that he races in his local circuit so my wife grew up in racing and understands it well. After it was over I told her, "I love it when Gordon wins because it ticks off the rednecks."

That is the good part.

Well nearly! When i got back from the Chicago DU gathering, i told my wife that i heard Jeff Gordon won! I said i like that because i know it "ticks off the crackers".

Close enough! That's funny!
The Professor

All i know is that there is a passionate Gordon hating contingent within the NASCAR fan base.

Maybe because he was an upper middle class California kid, rather than a southern boy? But, it's not just southern NASCAR fans that loathe him. I know lots of racing fans around this area (Chicagoland), and i'd say there's more fans of Dale E., his son, Jarret, et al, who loathe Gordon. I know others for whom he's their favorite driver.

Maybe because he was successful really quickly? But they didn't hold that against Dale, Jr.

It's not rational, but trust me, it's real.
The Professor

Although I kind of wanted JR to win

the actual NASCAR fans that I was watchign it with seem to have softened on Gordon. The story as I heard it was that the other drivers didn't like him because he never hung out with them. We would go straight from the track to his now ex-wife's side.

Now he is around a little more and they seem to like him. It was a situation either of her wanting to be in control or his managers handling him to get through the first hell yeah years with a clean image. He was (NASCAR fans didn't like this much) bigger over all than even Big E-in the NASCAR world maybe not but Gordon has that cute and pettable Stephanopolous thing going on.

At least that is what I took from what I heard.

ON EDIT- Will there really isn't a whole lot to talk about in the middle of the race so it generally turns to personalities and personnas.

BTW- Dale Jarrett was quite the high school athlete and stills loves to party (third or fourth party info)

Hendricks motor sports head got busted moving WEIGHT of coke in Hondas (he owns several dealerships) and was under house arrest and not allowed ANYWHERE NEAR THE TRACK at the time by NASCAR.

There is too much money involved to let image get out of NASCAR's hands.

big race fan.....very exciting.

But my husband is. Needless to say he was thrilled. Like him or not Jeff Gordon is one of the best out there. I say that very grudgingly but his numbers don't lie. Sunday was his 70th win.

For sentimental reasons I was hoping Mark Martin would win. I think he's a true gentleman and the best racer out there to have never won a championship.

On a interesting side note, did you know that his father was a personal friend of Bill Clinton? He used to fly Clinton to some venues when he was governor. Also Mark's father owned a trucking company. When he was killed in an aviation accident a few years back Mark chose to not shut down the company. It's not that he needed the income or the aggravation for that matter of being a trucking company owner. He didn't want all those employees to be unemployed. That tells me all I need to know about Mark Martin.

and his little dog too (48).

I've been pulling for that 97 for three years. He's there.
I'm trying to figure out who the new Ford hotshot is going to be.
It might be Edwards in the 99 ride... yeah, I'm pulling for that guy.
:toast:

I used to hate him because he was so damn perfect... good looking, good looking wife, good cars, always won, ...

I have some more sympathy for him now that he had a few less than perfect seasons and a messy divorce. He's more like the rest of us now!

then I'm glad it was Gordon. He's an amazing driver. I'm not a huge fan, but my husband watches NASCAR just about every weekend. I miss Bill Elliott!

I think it is because Gordon is so non-redneck.
He was a thorn in Dale Earnhardt's ass.
He is a damn good driver that doesn't fit the good ole southern boy mold.
JMHO

Jeff and Dale played their roles to perfection if you really bought into that. Dale liked to yank Jeff's chain but they actually had a lot of respect for each other. They were in a few business ventures together but their "rivalry" sure sold a lot of tickets.

I never bought into "it".
I used the word thorn to describe a an extremely tough competitor to Earnhardt.
It also bothers fans that Gordon poses a threat to unseat Petty and Earnhardt's string of seven Nascar championships.

I think Jeff Gordon will pass Earnhardt in the race win column but those championships will be a little tougher to acquire. Jeff Gordon is probably the best driver out there but the competition is much stiffer these days. It should be fun watching him try. :)

One of the real gentlemen in all sports today. I hope Miller lives up to their lifetime services contract with him. He deserves it.